Article Photos

BELPRE - Residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley filled the Belpre Historical Society's Farmers' Castle Museum Saturday for the third annual Heritage Day Celebration.

"We heard about the (event) and wanted to see what they have that is historical and new to us," said JoAnn Backus of Vienna.

Backus and her husband, Jeff, said they have recently been bitten by the history bug and are using their newfound interest to learn about local and state history.

"Last weekend we were in Charleston and visited the Culture and History Museum and decided to be a little more local this weekend," Jeff Backus said.

The Belpre Farmers' Castle Museum not only had its usual exhibits of the Victorian room and on the Underground Railroad, but also demonstrations from about a dozen area crafters and vendors.

The demonstrations included the Pioneer Antique Power Association, blacksmith Dan Hinton, chair caning by Mindy King and the Home Harvest 4-H living history projects.

One of the youngest demonstrators was the historical society's own Alana DeLancey, age 11.

The Belpre Elementary student was showing people how to weave rugs and purses on the gear-driven wooden loom in the museum's main room.

"It's very easy to do, but time-consuming because it can take two-and-a-half days to make one rug," DeLancey said.

She said she became interested in the museum and the loom when she toured the museum with her school class last year.

"I became very interested in the museum and decided I wanted to volunteer during the summer," DeLancey said. "They showed me how to work the loom and I really like it."

Another popular demonstration was Hinton's blacksmithing in the blacksmith shop behind the museum.

"The blacksmith shop with (Hinton) is really wonderful," said Parkersburg resident Robert Mazur.

"I've been in the museum before and seen a lot of their displays, but today I am seeing new and interesting things I've missed before."

Historical society president Nancy Sams said she was pleased with the turnout of people attending the event because it allowed them to learn about the society and the museum.

"The Heritage Day is more of an educational day than a money-making fundraiser for us," Sams said.

"We do this not to make money, but to get people into the museum who have not been here before or didn't know that we exist."

In an effort to get attendees involved in the exhibits, the society had a list of items from around the world for a scavenger hunt.

"There's no prize, but I have seen a few people with the list going around and marking off what they have seen," Sams said.

"This has been a very successful day for the Belpre Historical Society."